Southern Moderate African American Issues

L.B.J. might have said you can’t win big “dadgum” elections without different sides coming together painfully. The Kennedys reluctantly added him to Jack’s ticket and narrowly won the White House. Recent segregationists, labor members and Blacks formed the Democrat Party from the 1970s until 2016. If you aren’t familiar with dadgum, you don’t need to grassroots campaign or Get Out The Vote in Georgia south of Macon.

Republicans know there aren’t enough rich people to win elections so they fan the flames of paranoia and division to increase their numbers with blue collar and no collar people. It worked until the TEA Party types actually took over the GOP from the Country Club, pro-business types. The team behind Hillary Clinton wanted to win with limited influence and involvement from rural Democrats. Some argue that Team Stacey Abrams did the same. Governor Kemp’s margin of victory could have been erased with a nominal effort in South Georgia. Oh, Ms. Abrams logged countless hours south of the gnat line but something didn’t work.

My friends think you enlist local existing networks and have a list of issues unique to the region. We could have given them a U.S.D.A./Farm Bill expert politico who was sitting by the phone; someone who knew every rural area like the back of his hand—lawyer, farmer, Hill veteran, Moderate Black college product. There went 30,000 votes right there. In a big state, candidates can’t be everywhere.

The Dems need a three legged stool in the South: Blacks, Progressives and Suburban Moderates. In Georgia, each of those three groups has felt left out during big elections over the last 10 years. Jason Carter for Governor and Michelle Nunn for Senate were based on Suburban Moderates at the expense of Blacks and Progressives. The last two groups nearly put Stacey Abrams in the governor’s mansion but the lack of non-urban Whites was noticeable….could have tipped the scales noticeable.

After the 2021 Inauguration, the President should eat a peach and an orange in the Oval Office with either new Senator Stacey Abrams and soon to be cabinet member Andrew Gillum or Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In other words, turning out Georgia and Florida could decide the next presidential election.

The Progressive Movement is reason for concern. Movements are made of activists who might not be political party team players—do they work well with others. If their candidate doesn’t win the primary, they sometimes stay home in the general election (Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton). Do you remember P.U.M.A.? Some Hillary Clinton supporters were all “Party Unity My A—s” after Obama emerged as the nominee.

I am just one Black Moderate voter but I was “all in” for Progressive Stacey Abrams for governor in the primary and general election. If we are to have success in 2020, a lively primary with candidates for Senate from the three abovementioned “legs” could be healthy. After the primary, Blacks, Progressives, and Suburban Moderates must stand shoulder to shoulder against Trump and the mess that has become the Republican Party.

We bloggers wrote that gubernatorial candidate Austin Scott should leave the crowded field and run for the U.S. House in 2010. We created a Facebook page stating the case.

Scott was a Republican maverick in the statehouse; he sided with Democrat Governor Roy Barnes to change the confederate part of the state flag. As a Democrat, encouraging an opponent of a Moderate Democrat congressman was hard but Rep. Jim Marshall spent all of his time distancing himself from Pelosi and Obama. If you aren’t riding with the team, you can go.

Of course, Scott could see how far down he was in the polls without our opinions. Scott switched to the House race, won the election and our community hasn’t really seen him since then. Scott was even an early supporter of Marco Rubio for president but he moved over to the dark side with Trump. In retrospect, keeping Marshall as a White Moderate Democrat would have been better for party balance.

The old White leadership of the Georgia Democrat Party is in uncharted waters these days. With the exodus of rural Whites and some labor members to the G.O.P., the Democrat Party in Georgia is mostly Black and the remaining urban Whites are often Progressives. The cornerstone of this blog is that everyone in the political arena has an agenda. The agenda of the old White leadership seems to be: find a candidate who can raise tons of money; get paid with said candidate; and prepare to do the same in two years with someone else. The recruited candidates were good citizens and the list grows: Michael Cole for Senate, Jim Martin for Senate, Jim Barksdale for Senate and Stacey Evans for governor.

I told Mrs. Evans that she could win the lieutenant governor race. If Stacey Abrams and Stacey Evans teamed up on the state, they both might have won. But, the abovementioned leadership must have convinced Evans that she could win the primary. Results show they were wrong and real political talent and energy was misplaced.

So, the same old school Black and White Democrat leadership is at it again. They are trying to find someone they can control to run for U.S. Senate. Their list of hopefuls includes former congressional candidate Jon Ossoff, recent lieutenant governor candidate Sarah Riggs Amico and Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson. They have little control over Stacey Abrams.

I want to make a pro football playoffs parallel. The New Orleans Saints finished the regular season with the best record in the N.F.C. They earned a first round bye in the playoffs and home field advantage. Stacey Abrams almost won the governor’s race. If she wants to run statewide for U.S. Senate, she has earned a first round bye (no primary opponents) and the home field advantage that comes with a fresh, proven campaign network and a powerful database. The Saints could rest during the Wildcard Weekend and Abrams should relax for 6 months or so before becoming more familiar with the under vote producing sections of rural Georgia.

The idea that Abrams should run in a primary is laughable and an insult to the thousands of man-hours put in by grassroots citizens during her recent race. In the old days, the party would clear the field. It feels like Gone With The Wind after the South fell. Shall the former slaves fret over the fall of a culture that subjugated them or shall they celebrate? Remember, the old White party leadership owns the election losses of the last 20 years.

But, I have good news for my White moderate Democrat friends. You are very important in a national party. A national party must have a range of voices at the table. My moderate views are similar to yours and we counterbalance the Far Left in policy meetings. Suburban college educated voters in Georgia rocked with us; we might pull some of the voters who want to abandon the craziness of the Trump G.O.P.

The natural races for moderate White Democrat candidates would be G.O.P.-held congressional seats. In Georgia, a candidate can run in any district. The margin of victory for these Trump-associated congressmen is less than the number of African American adults who don’t currently vote and grassroots groups will be working on that for the next two years.

The ultimate prize is removing Trump from the White House. Switching Georgia is part of the plan but it requires strong candidates on every level. The new Democrat president could enjoy control of the Senate if Stacey Abrams and a few others win.

Rural Georgia Blacks have me “long blinking.” My homeboy Richardson will tell you stories about teaching and will long blink as a “pregnant pause” at a significant point. If it was really bad, his chin would drop onto his chest.

Urban Dictionary defines pregnant pause as the silence that occurs after someone has said or done something that leaves everyone who bore witness to the event speechless. “Deafening silence” is related to both long blinking and pregnant pause.

I don’t understand why we seek a better life through voting and public servants primarily–long blink. There are older Moderate Blacks who don’t trust a government-based improvements for our community because we remember local, state and federal sanctioned oppression and subjugation—pregnant pause. Are some Blacks waiting for Uncle Sam to rescue them from the “other man” or from themselves? Many people are their own worst enemies—played in school, slept in church, hung with no good people, ignored parents and didn’t develop a career. Deafening silence.

For years, this blog argued that there is more than one way to skin a cat. During that time, parts of our community kept searching for elected leaders who would give us more and more. On some level, that assistance seemed related to reparations but not really. The best we can hope for from government is a protection of basic rights and a climate conducive for personal development. What does that last sentence mean? America should be the land of equal and fair opportunity for everyone. If you are poor and struggling, it should be a result of your actions rather than gender, color or what have you.

The Progressive Movement is exciting to many young people but we Moderates want the movement leaders to explain how all of these benefits will be funded. Well-intended benefit programs can inadvertently create softer, entitled people.

Old school Blacks like me think another way to skin the cat would include personal responsibility. No, I am not talking about the cold-hearted “let them starve” mentality of the Far Right Conservatives. Shall we reconsider the striving mindset of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and every Black person who simply wanted a fair shot at a nice life from hard work?

That striving mindset is cheaper than governmental programs and produces less crime. It involves Secretary Colin Powell’s desire to reinstitute “shame” in America. Projectlogicga.com has several blog post that outline where we start. If a congressional candidate or social leader bought into this “nip problems in the bud” concept, we could do so much to more cleverly skin a cat. In rural Georgia, Blacks who vote became successful with the old school mindset while some non-voters sat at home with a wishbone where a backbone is supposed to be. The people who benefit most from governmental programs often don’t vote—long blink, pregnant pause, and deafening silence.

We should spend 2019 asking the people what they think about old school and new school.

Political Parties’ major moves were once decided behind the scenes in smoke-filled rooms by party bosses. It’s often said that it makes no difference who is on the stage or dais. The question is who is in the room when the money is counted; there you will find real power.

Huey Long, Boss Tweed, Maynard Jackson and George Busbee were parts of political machines that made decisions privately then let the public in on the plans. In the Democratic Party today, there is no similar organizational structure and that might be a good thing. Barack Obama was told it was Hillary’s turn but he ignored the process, put together his own operation and won. It wasn’t Trump’s turn but he did the same. Inside the Democratic Party of Georgia, the bosses didn’t want Stacey Abrams but she created an operation based more on the national Progressive Movement than the political party. How did Bernie Sanders come in second in the Democrat presidential nominating process when he isn’t even a Dem?

Should the smoke-filled rooms return to hash out better plans and guard the agenda of the Democrat Party? The TEA Party Movement took over the Republican Party and the Progressive Movement might do the same to the Democrats without some boss moves.

In this era of inclusion, my friends and I jokingly say that there would be different kinds of smoke in the room today. You would have a few old school cigar chompers at the table from Big Labor talking with new school elites who prefer a $25 Montecristo. Because the racial makeup of the Georgia Dems has changed, the Black and Mild crew needs to be there next to the Backwoods pickup truck guys and girls. Since the Progressive Movement strongly advocates for reform of marijuana laws, the weed smokers can be in the backroom but they can’t light up. Agriculture is Georgia’s biggest industry so the smokeless tobacco guys with the circle on their jeans need to be in the room.

Suburban educated voters are vital to the Democratic team so the non-smokers can enjoy some smoked trout and smoked Gouda. The international types and hipsters can even have their hookah or vape.

The Democrats can’t win without diversity and understanding. Back in the 90s, the southern Dem coalition included African Americans who were recent Negroes and Dixiecrats who were recent segregationists. “Go to the polls and hold your nose.”

Moderates are prepared to work with everyone. A stronger, more vocal Moderate and Centrist segment of the Dem Party could attract needed suburban voters. We would have once called 2019 an “off election” year. But, the grind continues without stopping. Activists are registering new voters and this blog would like to use this year to actually listen to the people while building a grassroots network in South Georgia.

With planning like the Normandy invasion, Georgia Democrats could secure the 2 million votes needed to win the state in 2020. How sweet would the peach be if the Democrat presidential nominee won the state and the White House, Stacey Abrams became a U.S. Senator and Dems saw victories on every level.

The liberation of Europe from Hitler’s grasp was a massive undertaking, Operation Overlord, that required comprehensive involvement from every part of the military and occupied locals. This involvement included overnight parachute and glider landings, naval bombardments, heavy air strikes and a year of intelligence before the amphibious landings. Many battles were won in the planning and preparation stages. We shouldn’t forget about the Europeans who wanted to be free from the German invaders.

Of course, turning the tide in World War II is more significant than an election. However, taking the White House from President Trump is important. Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu once said “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Ask Al Gore how important a few votes in south Florida was. Hillary Clinton would be president if she received 77,000 more votes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. The same number would have made Stacey Abrams governor of Georgia or Andrew Gillum governor of Florida.

Some pundits argue that Stacey Abrams got close without only secondary assistance from the Democrat Party, that Trump won with his own operation rather than the R.N.C. and Obama’s campaign apparatus is currently more effective than the D.N.C. At times, it seems the Democrats are fighting each other more than the other side.

To me, Normandy style planning could win Georgia for the Democrats if we have different elements playing different roles in different locations. What works in Atlanta, Albany and Adel is different. One of the brightest minds in the political arena today is Cliff Albright of Black Voters Matter. Cliff is a mastermind of bus tours, rallies, voter registration and door knocks. He is part of a team that “put in the work” that won the Alabama U.S. Senate race. On the internet and in person, I hear one key element from Cliff: raise national money to fund indigenous groups.

The comedy of errors that is the Democrat Party has a reputation of bringing urban activists to rural areas to teach the locals what is important. Say what? You ask us what is important to us and tell us if that is something that can be done. But, you don’t come to south Georgia with a list of D.C. and Atlanta issues. 2019 should be about issues education and network building. Complex and considerate voters across the Democrat team know that segments of the team are different in mindset and that is fine.

Jason Carter and Michelle Nunn spent too much money on T.V. to secure the Moderate vote while Stacey Abrams was brilliant with Progressive young voters. 2020 should be about doing both at the same time. We must work hard and smart because the other side is busy with dastardly techniques and methods. In World War II, the Navajo code talkers were beneficial in the Pacific theater but we need some code breakers today to break down what the Republicans are saying and doing. I want my country back. Make America Great Again.

We should never underestimate the role of the local resistance in the liberation of Europe back then and the current resistance today. If citizens noticed the little things the other side is doing daily, voting would be automatic. We also need to have a Churchill style “stiff upper lip” because liberals often baby the citizens. No, these are the issues and how they impact your family. Vote.

Normandy would have been a mess if different branches of the military were stumbling over each other. You do your part and we will do ours. The Lord knows the beaches needed to be cleared of landmines before the troops came out of the water.

Projectlogicga.com’s part in 2020 is South Georgia from Milledgeville to the Florida line-the 8th, 2nd and 1st congressional districts. 100k more voters in Atlanta and 100k more voters in South Georgia would get us a victory. Of course, Augusta, Athens and other north of Macon areas should be cultivated. Military operations like Normandy require cooperation and the checking of egos. The Democrats failed in Georgia for decades because everyone wanted credit for the coming victory. Young people parachuted into the South to do campaign work and secure White House political appointments. Did they respect the established indigenous grassroots groups?

The ultimate objective is getting citizens registered and consistently to the polls to create change, fairness and prosperity. If Normandy involved different elements of the military, we should consider different elements to reach voters. For example, one household could be motivated by door knocks while another noticed social media information and still another attended a stirring grassroots rally/cookout. Another person became a regular voter because that person was hit with a combination of the three abovementioned elements.

In Georgia, we might put too much hope in metro Atlanta alone. There is an old campaign adage that states a candidate got the same vote ten times. In other words, that one voter was reached over and over again while potential voters in other areas were lazily reached only with T.V. ads.

A key to military and campaign success is intelligence and reconnaissance. The locals know who moves the crowds, what the hot button issues are and who is trusted.

How much of high school sports is reading eyes? Where are they going…what’s next…who is getting the ball? Is it fair to have the weight of a community riding on young shoulders? It’s not tribal warfare like Braveheart but when Bainbridge won the state football championship with a head coach, I don’t personally know him, from Worth County, it was like watching Hoosiers.

For the record, the kids should relax and have fun. I went to high school with some vocal fans that never played varsity anything. At the end of the day, youth sports is about character-building. I have been sitting in the same spot at the Worth County gym for 20 years. In high school, my best friend and next door neighbor Gene was point guard, QB1 and a track star. He told me it isn’t called “point” guard because the player points at others; the “one” guard is the quarterback or point of attack.

Worth County has two bright point guards now; you see determination in their eyes and the same on their teammates faces. The Lady Rams have a young lady who wears Number 1 and she has heart. As an underclasswoman, she got so flustered with losing. It was as if she was saying “we trained for this, we know this…let’s execute during the game.” She works at the best soul food restaurant in South Georgia and I would ask in the summer if the Lady Rams would be right this year. Number 1 would nod like “yes and you old folks need to get a life.”

The Rams point guard is Kobe. Ok, when your name is Kobe, you can hoop from birth. It’s like being name Tiger “Woods” and playing golf or Usain “Bolt” and running the 100. For 20 years, I have been watching Nethers and Bentleys play point guard at Worth County. Will I live long enough to watch the preschool Nethers at the game this week play point guard here also?

It must be rich having a gym full of supporters and the Nethers as a family are there. In two decades, the White family is the other one I can remember rolling in like 20 deep three nights a week. So, I played tennis in high school and a little in college. The next time a family member watches me play will be the first time but I played a non-revenue generating sport—no spectators, no glory, no pressure.

You know, tennis and golf are actually squads and not teams. Playing on a team involves working with others. “You can’t sink while others float because you are all in the same big boat. There is no “i” in team. Teamwork makes the dream work.” Kobe and Number 1 are good. Number 1 throws no-look passes so smoothly that the person she is throwing them to didn’t know they were coming. Kobe and the Men’s 2 guard have the ability to take over the game or as they say get their own shot. But, as I watch the games, you hear former Rams saying that the other team would then double team the hot hand. I came to realize the other night that Kobe was looking to draw the double team and pass to his open teammates.

When Kobe Bean Bryant was 19 years old, he played on his first All-Star Team. Karl Malone came over to set a pick and Kobe waved him away. The showman in Kobe wanted to take the defender off the dribble…he wanted to break a fool’s ankles for the crowd. As Kobe grew older, he came to better understand playing with others.

The federal government job application form use to include a section called Knowledge, Skills and Abilities or K.S.A. Knowledge is what you learn from others, skills are what you develop from practice and abilities are what you got from God. Great players (Kareem, Jordan, Bird, Magic, LeBron) have all three while a good baller might have two out of three. For example, Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz teammate John Stockton wasn’t the best athlete from the abilities standpoint but he had developed skills. Allen Iverson had skills and abilities but was too cocky to learn from those who went before him. Today, you hear stories about top rookies in all sports asking if they could visit a legend for a few days to pick his brain about every aspect of the sporting life—on and off the court or field.

The current Rams are fortunate because they have dozens of former Rams at their games…pick those brains. It occurs to me that confidence is a big part of sports and sports reflect into life in general. I am nerdy so I will always put the books over the extracurricular but maybe they worth together. The Rams and the Lady Rams have the personnel to have successful seasons if they gel together as teams. Hey, the Rams head coach hooped at Albany State when I was in college, he knows ball and it seems the Lady Rams have a good coach as well. Listen to them.

At the end of the day, sports and high school in general is practice/preparation for life. The NCAA has a spot that says “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports.” I like that because the purpose of sports for most students is preparation for work and life… work is a team…family is a team.

My neighbor Wiley Brown played on a Louisville basketball team that won the national championship in 1980. Tia Lewis played D-I ball at O.D.U. before playing professionally overseas. Anfernee McLemore was an honor graduate from Worth County who recently selected Auburn for college hoops over Sanford, Georgia Tech and Yale. You can’t live vicariously through others but I was like please go to Yale for me. Hell, I have a Yale t-shirt anyway because he is brainy enough to go there for grad school after basketball and we support academic success also…you know last year’s salutatorian lives two streets over and a sister from the next street was valedictorian years back.

For the record, I might have had the worst attitude of any Worth County athlete ever. I wouldn’t play football because I didn’t like people yelling at me…still don’t. But, they yell at you in Marine Basic Training, at S.E.A.L. School, at Ranger School in Columbus and in college with fraternity hazing. Are they yelling or encouraging?

The Lady Rams once had a coach who yelled during games at J.C. and her teammates….stuff like dumb and stupid. At her son’s little league game, I asked her if it would be cool if someone yell at him like that and she said it wasn’t yelling it was motivation. Well, maybe I was wrong because her son played in the N.F.L. and J.C. has a condo and Benz in Florida. Students can develop mental toughness from sports but they shouldn’t be disrespected.

My bad attitude had me telling my tennis coach that she couldn’t coach me because I was a better player than she….young and silly. That coach made us do conditioning over and over. While we wanted to smash overheads at the net like basketball players want to dunk, she made us practice lobs over and over. Today, I do those conditioning drills weekly and I am relatively fit..thanks, Coach. When I am in trouble in a point, I toss up one of those lobs so high it hits a cloud. Those lobs buy you time to regroup and get ready for the next shot. Coach wasn’t teaching tennis; she was teaching life. When things get rough, you need to be cool, remember your training and regroup. My funky attitude even had me quitting the marching band. While playing an instrument was fun, I couldn’t have directors and select leaders fussing at me because I couldn’t worth a nothing. Hey, sometimes it’s just not your thing. My hard tennis serve was much better than their scales or whatever but I was always at the concerts cheering their achievement. Several classmates went to college free with those horns and started life without student loans.

Jeremiah and Brandon are my favorite bball Rams. They were successful and coachable in school and are professionals and fathers today. During a girls’game back in the day, point guard Brandon asked former Ram standout Harold how he could get a nice job like P&G in the future. Harold said you just keep doing what you are doing because P&G is a team just like basketball: take care of your assignments, be on time and focused, remember your training, be responsible for your mistakes, work well with others and be productive. Hey, Harold has made more money at the plant than he would have made playing pro baseball.

Ok, why do all the kids love basketball when baseball is easier on the body and you play until you are like 50. Those baseball players stand around then go eating sunflower seeds in the dugout half of the game. We didn’t have sunflower seeds on that lonely tennis court; we just had sun…lots and lots of blazing sun.

All Rams have the internet at their disposal. You tube has interviews with the coolest of the cool: Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, Julius Erving, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Dungy, Herm Edwards and Mike Krzyzewski. Those are some real TED talks.

To me, President Obama represents what America should be while President Trump represents what America is. Is this notion complex? Understanding the complexity of the southern mind is key to better politics, policy and life in general.

We are different—products of historic opposing factions but at the end of the day Stacey Abrams, Brian Kemp, Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis should all want to help form “a more perfect union.” It takes a complex mind to understand that what’s perfect for you and perfect for me are two different things. Shall we look into some complexity with an open mind?

Gone With the Wind: Life on Tara Plantation was idyllic if you sat on the porch but if you toiled in the fields or kitchen, if was just this side of hell. Is it hard to understand that the oppression didn’t really end for Blacks until the middle 1970s? I have watch GWTW half a dozen times but this summer was the first time I realize that life for Whites on Tara during the war was “flipping the script.” It wasn’t right for good Whites to live that hard. The filmmakers were offering radical social commentary right under our noses.

Michelle Robinson Obama: Former FLOTUS Obama’s book includes her statement that she would never forgive Donald Trump for pushing the birther drama that endangered her whole family. Yes..that’s right. While President Obama is a “turn the other cheek” guy, Miche from the Southside is more like most in my community. As a matter of fact, I am complex enough to compare her to Mr. Jackie Robinson. Both Robinsons had to hold it in for a long time but the truth will set you free. When you promote division and suffering for personal gains, we should remember (Segregationists, Crack dealers.)

Ignoring current supporters of the Confederacy is a disservice to every African America who lived before 1976. Condoning force labor, rape and humiliation during slavery and Jim Crow creates an unhealthy racial chasm in this nation. This drama alone should drive Blacks to the polling place but I am not complex enough to understand these Negroes’ apathy—yes, they should get use to Negroes and other elements of our troubled past… it’s back to the future if we aren’t careful.

Religion: Many southerners think Christianity is the official religion of America. The Founding Fathers would have done us all a big favor if they were clearer but I think God was in the room during those early days. In America, we have freedom of religion; you can practice a formal faith or you can do nothing. It’s up to you or as this blog has stated years ago “there is plenty of room in hell.”

It doesn’t help that the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have been warring in the Middle East for centuries. I am bless to have visited Jerusalem and I am in the local Methodist church every Sunday but I am surprised to learn the number of rural Black preachers who don’t know that Abraham’s casted-out son Ishmael is considered to be an early prophet in Islam. The three faiths are related! In Genesis 17:20, God tells Hagar “And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.”

Oh, it gets more complex because there are those who believe that Jesus moved and spoke to others around the world in different times. This constant battling between faiths must be reconciled before we all nuclear perish. Shall we be complex and consider what Jesus said about dealing with unbelievers?

Southern Intolerance: “It’s my way or the highway” could be the motto of the two extreme ends of the political spectrum. The Ultra Conservatives on the far Right and the Ultra Progressives on the far Left are inflexible. Yes, I am complex enough to respect conviction but I also know public policy requires understanding, compromise and arriving at reasonable solutions. The previous sentence is a joke to many rural Whites because they often feel that America was created by Whites, based on the Bible, and designed to keep them in tall cotton. Basically, they want their country back…make it great again. Am I missing something here? Complexity requires that I mention that the foundation of Black slavery is that supposedly Blacks are the descendants of Noah’s son Ham, the guy who laughed at his post-flood drunken father. According to some folks, Ham’s descendants were to be water bearers for his brothers’ descendants and so guess who comes from Africa to provide free and reduced labor until the 1970s. To my friends, Blacks claims as Americans is right there with the Native Americans who were robbed of two continents.

If many in the South insist on glorifying/honoring their “noble” Confederate cause, we can have a complex discussion about the investment of Black free labor during slavery and the systematic continued assets resulting from Jim Crow’s oppression of Black opportunity.

Gays: So, your faith tells you that two girls shouldn’t date but the “pursuit of happiness” is in the Declaration of Independence. At the end of the day or the end of time, we will all have our own cross to bear. Ancient scriptures mention lots of things we shouldn’t do but do. This heterosexual writer thinks that sex outside of marriage is a sin but I have never been married and am no virgin. Did I mention that there is plenty of room in hell? The Bible also goes into great detail about being judgmental.

Homosexuality should keep Democrats up at night. Not like that…up worrying about coalitions. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and recently Stacey Abrams raised tons of money on the two coasts because they are forward thinkers—Christians who have arrived at tolerant positions on same sex issues. When those issues come up in some rural Black churches, the pastors are like “not so fast.”

I am personally wrong for enjoying the spectacle of watching Gay White men try to understand how someone could take someone else’s rights….join the club. It took Black folks centuries to get some of our rights but others want all of their rights yesterday. For the record, discrimination in any form is wrong.

Voting: How do you not vote if you are Black, poor or both. Democrats fight for working class people who then don’t vote. I am not complex enough to understand that.

Hip Hop: Rap has grown from a powerful art form into a whole culture. To me, hip hop is more influential in my community than politics. While artists should be free to express themselves, I wonder if kids are complex enough to realize that the glamorization of a thug culture is moving Blacks backwards. Oh, I loved Prince, miss him every day, but we didn’t walk around in purple Captain Crunch coats. The combination of weak parents and strong hip hop creates a climate in which striving, focusing and long-term goal-making takes a backseat to fast money in a smoky weed haze.

You don’t hear the well-intended Progressives talk about what people did to create their own messy lives. Shall we be complex enough to consider that weed is self-medication for a generation of Black youth who know that America isn’t fair to them? Did liquor serve the same purpose for generations of Black men who America saw as boys?

Linear Parenthood: Ok, I just made up that term because I just don’t get some people. Follow me: if you have the vision as a teen to see your whole future on a timeline, are you not complex enough to have children at a smart time. Harvard Law classmates Barack Obama and Hill Harper both wrote in books that it’s better for people to hold off on major life moves until say 24 years old. Before that point, you are developing. If 24 year old you saw a video tape discussion by 19 year old you, you would likely say the kid had no idea about life. Wait, forget about 19 because you have kids making sex, education and gun decisions at 15. Wow.

Fake News: Really? Are you not complex enough to know that Fox News and conservative talk radio isn’t real journalism. It’s propaganda design to create fear, hatred, power and wealth.

Summary: I know this whole writing was all over the place but something radical must be done to reverse our direction. To me, the solutions are complex and multilayered. I wrote a post earlier this year about P.E.C.S. (Political, Economic, Cultural, and Social) solutions. My Progressive friends don’t want to hear it but the foundation of successful Black individuals, families and communities is strong, focus folks. The government shouldn’t rescue you from you.

Every American should have a fair shot at the good life and the government should protect citizen’s rights. We must be complex enough to know that every group should be at the discussion table together…with thick skin. Unfortunately, the conservative movement wants to make decisions for the whole nation without input from the whole nation. The well-intended progressive movement seems to think struggling Americans are perfect and not often complicit in their situations. The Moderates need to be the voice of reason.